A Modern Day Wizard in King Arthur's Court
by Chocobo Scribe
Summary: What began as a day on vacation at my grandparents' farm in England led to exploring a cave, which then led to meeting my namesake, Merlin. What would follow would change not only my life but the course of history for all of humankind as I set out on an unbelievable adventure that would decide the fate of Camelot. My name is Merlina Alison O'Keffe, this is my story.


**Okay, Chocobo here! I just posted my ROTG fic and as another act of apology for Promises going belly up I'm reposting the first chapter of my Merlin fic! After going through this I realized I had several mistakes so I edited it and it's ready to be read! Enjoy!**

**Note: All magic will be in Icelandic. My reasoning behind this is that due to the fact i was unable to find a way to translate into Saxon-the language Merlin uses for magic-I went for the closed thing Icelandic since it hasn't changed too much since the time of the Vikings.**

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

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A Modern Day Wizard in King Arthur's Court

Inspired by Disney's _A Kid in King Arthur's Court_

By,

Chocobo_Scribe

Chapter One: I Get Rewarded for Trampling a Wizard

Okay, let me get this straight, I didn't mean to go back in time. It was an accident I swear! I know I probably screwed up the time space continuum to some degree but at least I didn't blow up the universe. Okay maybe the destruction of Camelot at the hands of Mordred was ten times worse, but apparently I somehow averted all that Lancelot and Guinevere drama (the one that supposedly led to the destruction of Camelot)-assuming it actually happened before I showed up-and I still have no idea how I managed that! But I'll tell you seeing Lancelot (alive-he had supposedly died walking into this veil-wormhole thingy, then again after some love spell bracelet incident) nearly scared the living daylights out of me! What followed after that event that would forever be known as "The Slugging of Sir Lancelot".

Oh wait…I'm getting a bit ahead of myself…Let's start again from the top beginning with introductions.

My full name is Merlina Alison 'O' Keffe, but you can call me Lina everyone else does. I'm sixteen years old and I live with my dad, Professor Morgan 'O' Keffe (Mom, Alice 'O' Keffe, passed away when I was three) and my six older brothers: Liam, the oldest (and engaged to his totally awesome girlfriend Alicia), Collin, Zach, Tim (who are all in College now so we don't see them much except for Tim who bums off Dad every weekend) then Ben, and Josh who's my older twin. And Dad is a professor at the University of San Francisco on medieval history. We all have black hair, blue eyes and freckles.

Yes, I have six brothers making me the seventh and the youngest. And being from a family of Wizards, that is a big deal. You know Wizards' fascination with the magic number seven. And since my dad is also a seventh child making me the seventh child of a seventh child, and the fact my birth date has so many sevens in it (July seventh, seven minutes past seven P.M. 1997) that just makes everyone expect me to become the next Merlin or something. I do have big ambitions, just not THAT big. I mean it's not like I'm related to him or anything…I do want to be a successful Wizard and all but I'm not too sure about Merlin level…

Anyway to get back on track, I was on vacation with my dad and brothers (all of them) around June in south England visiting our mom's parents at their farm. It's near a really big forest and a lake where we go swimming, it actually reminds me a little of Donner Lake except it's a little cooler and the water isn't as freezing, there's also a Druid settlement in the forest too, almost all the locals know them, whenever someone catches a cold or something they just go to them for an all natural Druidic remedy. We were on our third day in England in two weeks, we would be off to Ireland to visit Grandma and Da; Dad's parents who live in Dublin. After two weeks with them we'd go home for the rest of summer break.

Okay now you know everything you need to know about me, let's get on with the story.

Josh and I were camped out at the lake eating sandwiches, drinking soda, swimming, looking for shells and sunken treasure, you know beach stuff. The lake was rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a girl who supposedly died there, right on the beach; right were Josh and I were sitting throwing rocks into the water. Frankly, I didn't see why she didn't join us-we had enough food.

"Do you think we'll see her this year?" Josh asked.

"I hope so." I said, "I always wanted to catch a ghost on film or better, meet one in person! I'd have a ton of questions to ask!"

"Like how you wanted to go interrogate those Gettysburg ghosts you thought you saw over spring break?"

"Hey…I had a paper on the Civil War due I wanted some info right from the source!" I said. I dug out another can of ginger ale from the cooler and opened it and took a big gulp. Josh and I had set up a camera and because we were too cheap to get a night vision camera we put a night vision charm on it, much cheaper-even though it's not as sharp as a night vision camera. One of the perks of being a Wizard is that you can always save a little money. We were trying yet again after ten failed years to catch the Ghost of the Lake on camera since I likely wouldn't be able to see her myself. She seems to like appearing in the ungodly dark hours of the morning.

Josh and I continued throwing rocks into the lake until we finished up all of our sandwiches and had to go back to our grandparents and it was also getting late too. We packed everything up, set up the camera, and made our way back. It was a ten minute walk from the lake to the farm so not too long we were back. Granny was outside watching Liam and Tim chasing all the chickens around the grounds and Dad was outside reading a book. No doubt some King Arthur book, he's a real enthusiast of the King Arthur histories and legends. Enough to name me after Merlin, Mom actually wanted to name me Alison but it ended up becoming my middle name that was the one argument Dad won.

"Hey Dad we're back!" I shouted waving my arm.

"Hullo Merlina, Josh how was the lake?" he asked.

"Great," Josh said, "We left our camera back there for the night hopefully we catch something interesting."

"Maybe this year will be your lucky year!" Dad said chuckling, "Gramps says dinner will be ready soon so you'd better get washed up. He's making steak and kidney bean pie!"

"Okay!" I said, "See you at dinner Dad!" And Josh and I ran into the house. After an epic battle of rock paper scissors I won at being first in the bathtub with the hot water. Granny and Gramps have this really nice old fashioned wooden tub they got during a trip to Japan it's almost like a hot tub!

A half hour later I finished and let Josh into the bathroom. I was in sweats and socks and my hair was sopping wet-I just have no patience for blow dryers and I'm too afraid I'd set my hair on fire if I tried using magic. I went into the living room where Ben and Tim were playing the Wizard Edition _Dungeons and Dragons_ at the coffee table while Zach was narrating. Knowing Zach, pretty soon Ben and Tim would come across a severely booby trapped corridor pretty soon. I plopped down on the sofa next the Ben as he was making his move.

"…And you come across an Orc wielding a frying pan!" Zach said. Ever since we saw _Tangled_ we've been having a bit of a frying pan fetish. Zach pointed a finger at the Orc figurine on the board and murmured, "_Gerast farsíma__._" His eyes glowed yellow for a second then the Orc figurine shuddered and grunted flexing his muscles and swinging his tiny frying pan around.

Ben stared hard at the board in concentration and at his stats sheet then pointed his finger at his Sorcerer Knight figurine and said, "_Sveifla__sverði þínu__."_ The little figurine shuddered then lunged at the Orc figurine and sent it flying backwards several panels.

"My turn!" Tim said then pointed at his Mage figurine and said "_Frysta að Orc._" His figurine straightened up, swung its staff around his head and sent a jet of blue light at the Orc figurine turning it into an ice cube. Basically in the Wizard edition of _Dungeons and Dragons,_ all the figurines are tiny automatons activated by magic. The idea came from Wizard Chess in _Harry Potter_.

I watched them for a while longer until Gramps came into the living room to tell us dinner was ready. Tonight, Gramps had made his specialty: steak and kidney bean pie. Actually in England it's steak and _kidney_ pie as in the organ but Gramps hates kidney so he uses kidney beans. We all crowded into the kitchen to eat. Gramps and Granny were at the table dishing out huge portions of pie and mashed potatoes and green beens. Dinners at Gramps and Ganny's are always fun and some end in a food fight. Like this one time we got home from a Reniasance Faire and we were all still in our Pirate costumes when the whole kitchen got covered in baked beans and mashed turnips and bits of haggis. That was messy business-especially the haggis...

After we were all done eating Gramps leaned back in his seat and pulled out his pipe. It was one of those old fashioned ones that you always associate with Sherlock Holmes. I think it used to belong to Great-great Grampy. I don't remember much hearing about him but it always had this very pleasant smell of smoky maple and vanilla.

"So." Gramps said, "What are you kids going to do after the dishes are done?"

Liam finished up his juice before he answered, "We were thinking about toasting marshmallows and maybe a few rounds of duels."

"Just don't set anything on fire." Granny said as she picked up the dirty dishes, "We don't need a repeat of what happened two years ago when you tried to set off fireworks with magic."

"Oh that was awsome!" I said the little pyromaniac in me coming out.

"But you nearly burned down the cowshed." Gramps said puffing on his pipe.

"Yeah." Dad said, "And I'm sure that won't happen agian right boys?" since I was the only girl in the family I ended up with a boy's mentality, I don't really consider myself a "girl-girl". So I don't respond to group refernces such as "girls" or "ladies". This drove a few of my grade school teachers crazy I can tell you that.

"Right Dad!" We all said standing up to start helping with clean up. Now...I know what you're thinking "But you're a family of Wizards. Couldn't you just magic the dishes to clean themselves?" we could, but nearly all forms of cleaning magic that involve bringing inanimate objects to life results in very...wet results so to speak Go watch _Fantasia_ if don't get what I mean. The most magic we do with dishwashing is levitating the stacks of dishes into their shelves.

After we were done my brothers and I all herded out into the paddock with some scrap wood, Gramps had given us and some chairs and blankets. We tossed the wood in a big pile and set the chairs around the wood pile.

I pulled out some old newspaper to start up the fire, focued hard on it and said, "_Brenna._" A tiny flame started on the newspaper and after puffing on it a few times I tossed it onto the wood pile. We added a few more burning bits of newspaper and soon we had a nice bonfire going.

While we all warmed our hands by the fire Granny brought us some of her homemade butterbeer. It tastes better than the one at _The Wizarding World of Harry Potter_ and it's hot, just like the books describe. After we were full of butterbeer, we all started having rounds of Wizard Duels. Since were having what was considered "Play Duels" we didn't need to set up a barrier to prevent any serious damage.

"_Hindrun!_" I shouted blocking one of Josh's shock wave spells. Barriers are my specialty when it comes to magic along with fire and lightning.

"My turn!" Liam said rolling up his sleves past his elebows and sent Ben and Tim reeling backwards with a wordless spell which is affectionetly called "Force Push". We continued this way for over and hour running around in a Wizard Duel Free-For-All until Dad came out with everything we needed for s'mores.

"You kids must be hungry now!" he said laughing passing out metal skewers, "I brought out the works, ghram crackers, marshmallows, peanut butter, Nutella, chocolate bars, jam, fruit, everything you need."

"Thanks Dad!" Ben said sticking four marshmallows onto his skewer, "Hey, after we're done who wants to blow up some marshmallows?"

After a s'mores eating contest of epic propotions and which Josh won-seriously I have no idea where he keeps it all...everything he eats must get digested halfway down to his stomach-we started tossing the last of the marshmallows into the fire and wathed them ooze out their innards. After that and when we all started yawning we all tottered back inside to get to bed. Whenever we visit, my brothers and I all sleep in the livingroom on bedrolls near the fireplace it's a tradition we intend on keeping for as long as possible.

"Who wants to hear a ghost story?" Liam asked as we all arranged our sleeping bags into a star shape with our heads in the center.

"I do!" Tim said, "How about the one about The Ghost of the Lake?"

"But we always hear that one." Ben said.

"Can't we hear the one about the Vampire who wanted to eat Garlic bread?" Collin asked.

So in the end the first story told was the one about the Vampire and Garlic Bread. It's actually quite funny Liam and Collin wrote it together in high school. The last story to be told was about The Ghost of the Lake. Basically it goes like this...

"It was over a thousand years ago," Liam started, "A Druid girl was kidnapped by a bounty hunter and taken to a city far away from her home. She was rescued by a Wizard boy who took her to tunnels below the castle to keep her safe. But he did not know of her curse. Every night at midnight she would change and go on a killing rampage. The wizard boy did not discover this until he saw her change before his eyes." Liam pasue for effect, "She was cornered by several knights, but the Wizard boy saved her, he distracted the knights so the Druid girl could escape. He then went to her but, her love for him was storng enough so she would not attack him. Sadly, she had been mortally wounded. The Wizard boy took her to the Lake rumored to be the gates to a land of youth, and right on the beach, in the Wizard boy's arms she died. And some say she still haunts the lake waiting for the Wizard boy to come back to her. Several people have seen her in the early hours of morning..." He stared at each of us in turn with his scary face which after hearing so many ghost stories is more like his funny face.

"Alright!" Liam said clapping his hands, "Lets get back to sleep before Dad comes in here!"

We all burrowed into our sleeping bags just as Dad came into the living room. After a moment he left turning the light off. A while later I dropped off to sleep.

Don't you just hate it when you wake up obnoxiously early? Normally it happens becasue you have to go use the bathroom or have to catch an early plane or something. This case was neither. I was sure someone had been calling my name. At first I thoght it was Ben or Josh who were snoring on either side of me. But they were just snoring and no disguised chuckeling.

And I was very sure neither of them could have made a perfect voice impersonation of Mr. Olivander from the _Harry Potter_ movies. I lay back down sure I was just dreaming, must have eaten too many s'mores last night...

"_Merlina..." _the voice said agian, _"Merlina...come..."_ I sat bolt upright there it was agian! Spooky, mysterious and sounded just like Mr. Olivander. I lay back down and pushed my pillow over my head, but that did no good, the voice was _inside_ my head! Finally I sat up grumbeling and pulled on a pair of shoes. I would check outside then come back and get back to bed. I went outside and started exploring the farm grounds, completely deseretd and I couldn't sense anyone nearby so...

"_Merlina...come..."_ The voice said agian, _"Come to the lake..."_

_Fine you stupid voice I'll come!_ I thoguht snappily. I went back inside the house and after I got dressed in beige, capri pants, a blue t-shirt, a hoodie that was slightly too big for me (it had been Collin's at first, brown with a red hood), and hiking boots, I picked up my adventure backpack. It was a small navy backpack with a sinlge strap that went across my chest. Normally, a pack this size could only hold a few small items. Mine however, was special. I had gotten the idea after I read _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_ it took me a while to figure the spell out since it was one of my own invention. But in the end I was sucessful and I had about a couple large trunk's worth of space in my pack and it was light as a feather.

I made sure I had all the essentials in it. A few changes of clothes, pajamas, my toiltire bag, toothbrush and toothpaste, a few water bottles, my nookColor which had all my magic books and novels and comics in it, a wind up flashlight, some of my magic equipment, and sleeping bag and some food and a camping kettle (Nonperoshiable stuff, Cup of Noodles, cookies, cracker, Cliff Bars and the like). I was about to leave, when I went back for my invisibility hoodie, charm bracelet, and my pendant which extends into a staff. I wasn't sure why but I had the feeling I might not come back for a while.

Wizard's sixth sense I guess...one last thing I took was a cast iron skillet and tied it to the belt loops on my pants. Maybe it would come in handy in case I ran into some weirdo. Deeming myself ready I left the house leaving a note saying I'd be back soon just so Dad wouldn't worry.

If only I knew how late I was going to be...

I followed the trail down to the lake. It was really foggy and greyish and chilly. That's how summers sometimes are in England, except in St. Ives, I hear that town has some really nice weather, and meat pies...

I arrived at the lake in fifteen minutes. I had taken my time through the woods to avoid tripping over something. As magical as I am, I am still a complete and utter klutz, something magic can't fix.

The lake was totally deserted, except for a small rowboat way out in the center with a lone fisherman casting out his line. My Flip Camera was still where Josh and I had left it. I picked it up and looked throguh the footage I got. Nothing much except some birds and a curious wolf's nostrils. No Ghost of the Lake. Grumbling I stowed my camera in my pack and pulled out my flashlight.

"_Merlina...the caves...come..."_ Mr. Olivander's voice said. If I went into the caves...would he give me a wand? I pressed forward until i came to the caves. The entrance was a huge gaping hole and it was really stinky. It smelled like a Dragon's Den and trust me I know how Dragons smell. Pretty stinky most of the time. I'd visisted enough Dragon Reserves and Ranches to know how Dragons usually smell-not very pleasant. But that did nothing to dampen my love of Dragons.

"Okay...Let's see who's down here..." I muttered winding up my flash light with the handle then turned it on and walked into the cave. It was dark and moldy smelling. Thankfully, the cave was fairly straight forward so there was very little chance of my getting lost. I carefully made my down a tunnel while seriously considering turning back before Dad found out where I had gone and grounded me for the rest of the summer.

But I kept going forwards until I reached a huge cavern with fantastic stalagmites and stalactites and other rock formations. It was HUGE nearly the size of King's Cross Station and almost as tall as Grand Central Terminal in New York. This clearly was big enough to be a Dragon's Den, but where was the Dragon?

"_Merlina…Merlina…"_ Mr. Olivander's voice said again. I put a hand to my head wincing, it was really strong here this must be where the voice was coming from! I looked around the cavern but no one was coming. I decided to poke around, maybe Mr. Olivander was hiding somewhere and I'd have to play hot and cold.

"Marcooo!" I shouted and I heard my voice echo all over the cavern: 'Marrrrcccoooo..Maaarrcooo…Ma…cooo..coooo" I chuckled and shouted again just to hear my echo. Then I started my way around the cavern to find Mr. Olivander or whoever it was sending me telepathic annoyances.

The cavern was totally deserted, though I kept having the feeling I was being watched. I shined my flashlight around, nothing.

"Ljós fylgja slóð mína_."_ I muttered and a pale blue orb of light formed in my hand and floated upwards casting more light to see by. I glanced around and while I could see better, no one was there. I started to turn back to leave, when I noticed a tunnel that had escaped me earlier. I poked my head in I was pretty sure I could hear something. I extinguished my magical light and started down the tunnel. It was a bit of a tight fit at the entrance but the inside seemed roomy enough once I was in.

A loud howling sound roared up from deep inside the tunnel and blasted right at me nearly knocking me over! Then it reversed and began to suck me in! I yelped in alarm and tried to brace myself against the tunnel walls and began to inch away backwards I was successful at first but the sucking became even stronger and since I couldn't teleport yet, I was sucked in. I flipped over in midair upside down and I saw a Dragon looking into the tunnel.

The next thing I knew, I was lying face down on the cave floor.

"Owwww…." I groaned pulling my knees under me and rubbed my head, "that really…hurt…" I sat up and blinked to clear my vision I was in a cavern, the same one I had been in earlier, strange…maybe that tunnel did a u-turn and I got spat back out.

But where was the Dragon? I fumbled around for my flashlight and picked it up once I felt it on the ground. I wound it up and turned it on and shined it everywhere I could. I was alone.

_I'd better head back…_I thought, _before Dad freaks and grounds me for the rest of the summer with no T.V. no video games, and no Wizard 101 when we get home._ Maybe if I apologized and offered to do extra chores, I could keep my iPod to listen to audio books.

I made my way out of the cave and back to the lake. It looked just the same as when I arrived but most of the fog had cleared away. I walked down to the beach to get a good look and I swore my eyes were playing tricks on me! All the lake front houses were gone! And what happened to the anchored raft all the local kids did cannon balls off of? I rubbed my eyes and blinked hard. Nope…nothing was wrong with my eyes.

_What is going on?_ I thought, _How did so many houses just vanish into thin air? That's impossible!_ I turned around to head back to the farm on the trail, but…there was no trail. It was all tangled woods, undergrowth and everything.

_Okay…this is seriously freaking me out…_I thought my left eye twitching. I untied the frying pan from the belt loops on my pants and held it in my hand ready to swing it at a moment's notice. Then taking a deep breath and reassuring myself that I could find my way back to the farm from the lake plunged into the forest.

It was a lot rougher than I remembered. What was going on? Several explanations rushed through my head but I discredited them all. There was no way I could have dropped into a Twilight Zone or gone to another world, or traveled through time that stuff only happened in the movies! Besides, while there _was_ a spell for time travel it was lost thousands of years ago and I'm of the opinion that it never worked or was a dud.

I plowed through the undergrowth, there hadn't been so much last time; there had been a proper trail! But once I got past the stone wall, I'd be only ten minutes from the farm so I didn't have much to worry about right?

Apparently I did.

The wall wasn't there.

That was impossible. That wall had been built over four hundred years ago by farmers (like the dry stone walls you see in Ireland) and it was still in very good shape the last time I saw it. I even ran on it a few times. So…where was it?

"This isn't good…" I muttered to myself, "I think I'm lost…"

Could things get any worse?

Apparently they could.

I felt hot breath on the back of my neck, I turned around slowly, and found myself staring at a very big and very angry looking wild boar.

I did the most natural thing. I turned around and ran like hell. The boar crashed through the undergrowth behind me gaining on me every second and the most I did was look over my shoulder and yell: "BAD PIG!" Was this how those macho Spanish guys feel when they run with the bulls?

At least until I remembered my Beast Master magic. I had only just started on it but it hopefully would be enough to calm down or at least confuse the boar long enough for me to find a place to hide until it left.

" _Vera lægði dýrið Ég meina þú ekki mein í dag_!" I shouted over my shoulder waving my arm wildly at the boar. The boar came to a skidding halt and snorted pawing the ground with its hoof.

"That's it…" I said, "Good boy, calm down, think happy wild boar thoughts, shrubs, no hunters, and acorns. Did I mention the acorns?" The boar snorted and looked at me rather dubiously.

"I'll...I'll just be on my way now okay Rodger?" I said in a slight quavering voice. I was possibly about to get trampled into the ground by a wild boar the size of an SUV and I was naming it. As if my old habit of constantly bringing home stray puppies (and the occasional baby Night Fury-what can I say? They suck you in with their adorableness!) wasn't enough…The boar snorted again and rushed forward flipping me onto its back with its snout and charged off into the forest with me hanging on for dear life!

"UUUUWAAAAAAHHHH!" I screamed holding onto the boar's fur, "STOP RODGER! STOOOOOOOOOOP!"

But Rodger did not stop he just kept barreling into the forest! Soon I could hear people shouting and horses. A hunting party was coming! I prayed to God that I wouldn't get hit by a bullet.

"…he's getting away!" a male voice shouted.

"Stop him before he…." The crashing of Rodger's charging covered up what was said next.

"Do you hear that?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH HHHHHH!"

I had one second to process a tall bearded man in a black robe and cloak with silver fastenings before Rodger trampled him into the undergrowth. I looked over my shoulder and saw the man sprawled out on the ground then I looked ahead and it was _my_ turn to scream. A spear was flying right at Rodger and me!

_SHHHHUUUNK!_

The spear hit Rodger in the chest and he stumbled and skidded forward then flipped sending me flying through the air and right on top of a tree branch. All the air got knocked out of me and I hung there dazed like laundry hung out to dry. And amazingly, I still held on to my frying pan.

"Owwww…." Was all I could manage. Several men on horses passed by below me and they were all wearing chainmail, armor plates, and red cloaks with a Dragon device on them! Had I ended up near a Renaissance Faire? The leader, a young man probably about Collin's age rode over to where the trampled man was on his horse, a large brown one.

"We got him!" he said, "Lucky that wild boar turned up eh? We'll have a feast tonight!"

"Uhhh…sire?" another one said. I looked down directly and found two of the party looking right back up at me. The one on the left had black hair and blue eyes like me and was wearing a brown jacket, a blue shirt, red bandana, brown pants and boots. The other had shoulder length brown hair a slight beard, a friendly looking face and was wearing chainmail and a red cloak.

"Uhhh…if it's not too much trouble…could you get me down?" I asked. I was about maybe ten feet off the ground.

"Don't worry!" the black haired boy said, "We'll have you down in no time!"

I pulled myself onto the branch and held on with all four limbs to keep from falling and crash landing on the ground or one of the people below me. Of course I could have just magicked myself down but due to the fact that I really hate heights and that I shouldn't use magic for every tiny little problem I was having trouble remember how to levitate and I think I was too high up for it anyway.

The black haired boy was starting to or at least trying to climb up the tree. He kept falling off whenever he got more than a few inches up. Maybe I should just climb down myself if the next branch down was close enough. I inched towards the tree trunk and very carefully turned around to face it.

"I'm gonna climb down alright!" I shouted then began the very precarious process of climbing down.

"No! It's too dangerous." Someone said, "We'll come up and get you down." I looked down, everyone except the black haired boy were wearing chainmail, very heavy looking chainmail.

"In all that chainmail?" I said, "No way! You'll just fall and break every bone in your body!" and continued to climb down very, very carefully. A few branches creaked in a threatening way but none broke thank goodness. In ten minutes I was safe on the ground and a little sweaty.

"I thought you were going to fall a few times." The black haired boy said.

"Yeah well…good thing I didn't." I said still catching breath, "I hate heights…" I stood up straight to look him in the eye proper and I swear he was Collin's spitting image-except he didn't have freckles and was a little shorter and lankier. And Collin's current hair style made him look like he recently joined the Beatles.

"Oh…uh, I'm Merlin." He said. Was he the guy who'd be playing Merlin? Maybe I ended up near a Camelot themed Renensance Faire. But how come we didn't hear about it? Dad was such an Arthurian Legends nerd that he would have told us about it _months_ in advance. And wasn't Merlin usually portrayed as an old man? Most people, myself included, have a very hard time imagining Merlin younger than 80.

"_Mer_lin!" Both Merlin and I jumped and turned to face the speaker. It was the blonde guy who was the leader of the pack.

"Y-y-yes Sire?" Merlin stammered trying to regain his composure.

"WHO gave you permission to start lollygagging?" His Royal Crankiness snapped irritably he hadn't noticed me yet. I just crossed my arms patiently and waited.

"B-but uh…S-sire…" Merlin said nervously, "I…Gwaine and I…."

"They were trying to help me down from the tree." I said.

The blonde youth whirled around to face me, "Where'd you come from?"

"The wild boar you threw your spear at and nearly hit me." I said flatly.

"What were you doing riding a wild boar?" the blonde asked a little suspiciously.

"I don't know." I said shrugging, "I didn't plan on it. It just came at me and I was trying to get away, then some _dollop head_ throws a spear and nearly turns me into a human shish kabob!"

The effect of those words was more profound than I expected. "Dollop Head" is a bit of a running gag my family has. We use it when describing someone we really don't like or when someone shows a remarkable act of stupidity. Clotpole is another word we use for this.

Electricity seemed to crackle off the blonde youth's chain mail, "Do you…" he growled slightly, "Have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Some clotpole who almost killed me with a spear." I said. I was in no mood for good manners at this point. Who _was_ this obnoxious guy who thinks he's the king?

"I," the blonde said importantly, "Am King Arthur Pendragon."

"King? King Arthur?" I almost squeaked. Maybe I should have been less impertinent.

"What's your name?" the Merlin actor asked.

"Uhhhh….Lina…" I said automatically going with my nickname, "Lina 'O' Keffe." I wasn't sure why though. Maybe it was just to avoid everyone getting Merlin and I mixed up. I still remember this one time in grade school when everyone called me "Merlin" that was an extremely weird school year…

"Nice to meet you Lina." Merlin said shaking my hand in a friendly way.

"Hey Merlin don't forget about me!" I turned around to face the knight who had offered to climb up the tree to get me down.

"Oh I'm sorry Sir," I said.

"Don't worry about it missy." The knight said, "I'm Gwaine."

Sir Gwaine! He was my favorite knight from the King Arthur stories! I especially liked the story of Gwaine and the Green Knight. I was hoping that these reactors would do that story and knowing me and my impulsiveness I'd be the by stander to rush in shouting my head off wearing a Viking helmet and wielding a spoon.

"Pleased to meet you Sir Gwaine," I said also shaking his hand. I then turned back to the Arthur actor, "Okay I'm sorry I insulted you, your highness, but I would really appreciate it if you could give me some directions. I took a wrong turn somewhere and now I'm lost."

"Where is it you need to go?" Arthur asked a little more politely but still clearly ticked at the "cotpole" and "dollophead" comments.

"My grandparents' farm." I said.

Blank silence answered my words.

"There…there is no farm anywhere nearby…" Arthur said slowly as if to make sure there would be no misunderstanding, "How lost are you?"

"I have no idea…" I said trying to piece together what was going on. The stone wall wasn't there where it should have been, apparently these people believed there was no farm nearby, and I was starting to come to a rather impossible answer.

"Do you have any family in Camelot?" Merlin asked.

Did he just ask if I had any family in Camelot?

"None…none that I know of…" I said trying to figure out if he was just in character or that really insane answer that was starting to form in the back of my brain.

"Sire, maybe Lina should come with us." Merlin said.

At first I thought Arthur was going to say no, but instead he smiled slightly and said, "Well, Lina, if you hadn't shown up on your wild boar we would have never caught this Sorcerer."

Then I remembered the man I had just trampled into the ground. He was in black robes, had tanned skin, scraggily dark hair and beard and piercing dark eyes. And there was this really weird smell about him; sweat, damp earth, and something similar to bad eggs. When you're a Wizard or have _any_ magical power at all your senses are more sensitive than someone without magic and if someone has used magic for years it starts to give off a slight smell.

And the smell of bad eggs is usually how the scent of Dark Magic is described. Was I was looking at a Dark Sorcerer? It was the first time I had ever smelled it. Maybe he was just wearing that cologne some Goth people like to wear when they pretend to be Dark Wizards.

"Alright men!" Arthur said to the other knights after he and a few others cleaned the carcass of the bull and cut off a good deal of meat I wanted to watch but Arthur said it was too messy, "Bind him and we'll take him back to Camelot to answer for his crimes. And we'll feast quite finely tonight." The two knights tied their prisoner to one of the horses to make him follow behind.

"Merlin," Arthur said, "Lina will be riding with you. Help her up onto your horse."

"No it's okay. I've ridden a horse before." It took a few tries due to my shortness (I am approximately four foot eleven) but I was able to mount the horse without anything embarrassing happening, like falling off the other side. Merlin mounted behind me and took the reins it was riding with Collin when I was little. He even held the reins just like Collin did: like he was holding a steering wheel at nine 'o' clock and three 'o' clock. I held onto the saddle horn, there was nothing else to hold onto.

After everyone was all on their horses we were off at a brisk trot. The Sorcerer stumbled along behind Gwaine's horse cursing (the cussing kind not the magical kind) at regular intervals or when he stumbled. About an hour went by mostly filled with Arthur talking about other matters of Camelot of which I couldn't understand a single word.

After a while I had to speak up.

"Hey, Merlin?" I asked.

"Yes?" he said.

"Are…Are we _really_ going to Camelot?" I asked. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. There was _no way_ I could have gone back in time…Right?

"Yes, we are." Merlin said, "Why?"

"Ummm…." I racked my brains trying to find the right words. Some gut feeling told me I probably shouldn't go trumpeting the fact I was a Wizard. I didn't do that normally anyway, there still are people in the world who can't accept anything or anyone who is different. Believe me I've had some experience with some of them amazingly none of them were turned into toads. I have this slight tendency to accidentally turn people into toads when I lose my temper.

"Just…" I said stalling for time, "Just wondering."

Merlin didn't say anything, he was on to me I was sure of it! Could he read minds? He could couldn't he? I mean…he's one of those people who seem to know almost everything. I mean how else did he help Arthur become King Arthur and establish Camelot and furthermore England? He's like the original Hero's Mentor aside from Obiwan Kenobi.

"Well, if you have nowhere else to go you're more than welcome in Camelot." Merlin said, "And I'm sure King Arthur will reward you for helping us."

"It was an accident." I said slightly embarrassed, "I didn't plan it or anything, it just…happened."

Merlin just laughed I joined in a little uneasily. My mind was racing, if I really had gone back in time how was I going to get back? I was over a thousand years away from home. I tried my hardest not to get my hopes up too high that the TARDIS would conveniently show up and I could hitch a ride home with The Doctor. I was probably going to have to get some serious magical help, or go on a crazy death trap quest, or most likely adjust to life in the pre-medieval era and hope I didn't end up as my own I don't care to say how many greats grandmother.

I kept hoping it was all a dream or I was just with actors from a Renisance Faire. If that was the case I could breathe a sigh of relief.

A few hours later all my hopes were dashed.

We were approaching a large walled town. I could see shingled and straw roofs peeking over the walls as we passed by farmland and crops of grain and vegetables. Above it all was a huge stone castle. Flags fluttered from the tower roofs and I could make out the castle guards by the glint of their chainmail and helmets.

No Renaissance Faire I knew of had this kind of budget and it felt too…real. My stomach dropped to the ground and burrowed a few miles underground.

I really did go back in time and sitting behind me was most likely my namesake. I tried to take it all in, but it made my head hurt.

"Lina?" Merlin said sounding worried, "Are you alright? You're swaying in the saddle."

"Ugghnnh….food…" was all I could say. In addition to being totally confused I was also really hungry. I hadn't had any breakfast and who knows how long I was wandering around in the woods completely lost.

"Here you go then!" Gwaine said tossing me a big red apple, "This'll settle your stomach."

"Thanks!" I said and took a big chomp out of it. It was juicy and super sweet like it had been soaking in honey all day. While I ate my snack we passed through the gates of the town. We were greeted by a dark skinned knight and several more knights also wearing red cloaks with the Pendragon Crest, a yellow Dragon. The dark skinned knight was dressed in similar fashion to the knights with us but the other ones behind him had red tunics over their chainmail. I seriously hoped the whole "wear-a-red-shirt-go-into-a-fight-and-you-die" curse from _Star Trek _didn't plague the knights of Camelot because that would just plain suck in general.

"Sir Elyan!" Arthur said bringing his horse to a slowed trot to greet him, "It's good to see you."

"Not as good to see you all returned safely." Sir Elyan said, "You were successful?"

"We were indeed," Arthur said motion to Gwaine to join him. The Dark Sorcerer stumbled and fell flat on his face to the cobblestone street. I couldn't help but wonder if he was going to be okay.

"And, there's more." Arthur said, "We happened to have some "help" our new friend Lina here came to the rescue on her wild boar."

"It was an accident!" I bleated from Merlin's horse, "How many times do I have to say this!?"

Arthur turned to face me looking slightly amused, "Oh don't be so modest Lina, you just helped us arrest a dangerous Sorcerer who was threatening Camelot, the least I can do is reward you."

"Uh…" was the most intelligent thing I could say, "With what?" I asked.

"Whatever you like." Arthur said as if that should have been obvious-and it kinda was.

I was about to say "a map back to the 21st century" but my gut told me that probably would be a bad idea.

"Maybe some proper clothes perhaps?" Arthur suggested, "You're not gender confused are you? You DO know that girls don't go running around in trousers and short hair do you?" he dismounted his horse and a stable hand quickly rushed over to lead his mount to the stables.

I flushed, of course…me wearing pants would be considered cross-dressing and I don't even want to know what they thought of girls with short hair. How was I going to talk my way out of this? I thought for a few seconds and said, "No Sire I'm not, I just have a lot of brothers." Arthur raised an eyebrow, "I'm the only girl in my family." I said.

"But surely your mother…" Arthur started.

"She passed away when my twin brother and I were three. So I was raised by my Dad and older brothers." I said.

"How many brothers do you have?" Arthur asked.

"Six." I said, "I'm the youngest that means a lot of hand me downs." I said and hopped off the horse and landed hard on the cobble stone street causing a shockwave to go up through me. I wobbled slightly but regained my footing a few seconds later.

"Still you need a proper dress." Arthur said as if I hadn't said anything, "I'll have the local seamstress fix something for you. And you should get a wig. I don't know why you cut your hair but it's just not proper." He turned to the assembled knights and told them all they all did a great job and to get back to their posts. He then turned to Merlin and I and told us to follow him, he'd give me my reward-my pick-in the throne room.

"But…" I said as Merlin joined me on the ground, "I hate dresses. I keep tripping in them." I shuddered at recalling the one school dance I went to-the Winter Ball- I had worn this really nice sparkly green strapless full length dress and I kept tripping and falling flat on my face and sent poor Zach, a friend of mine from school who had asked me to be his date to the hard gym floor while dancing. And when I was little I kept tripping in the little girl dresses to the point where Dad just stopped buying them for me and I had more than enough hand me downs from my big brothers.

"Just ignore him." Merlin said putting a hand on my shoulder (weird….why did it feels like Collin's hand?), "He's exactly what you said he is: a dollop head. Though "prat" is my personal favorite."

"You call him dollop head?" I asked half laughing as we followed Arthur to the castle, "That's so weird…that's like a running joke in my family calling idiots dollop heads."

"Maybe we're long lost cousins." Merlin joked we both laughed but I was a little shaky in mine.

I was actually in the 10th century, in Camelot, walking next to Merlin who was actually younger than Arthur; could he also be related to me? Could he be my I don't know how many greats grandfather?

Okay that was just crazy. I was just named after him nothing more. Right now, figuring out how to get back to the year 2014 was my top priority. Maybe once I had a private moment with Merlin I could ask if he knew any time travel magic or could find some big magical help for me, or summon the TARDIS. I wouldn't be too picky.

But how was I going to ask him? Hello this may sound strange to you but I'm from over a thousand years in the future could you send me back please? He'd think I was insane! I was going to have to take this slow, get to know him better. And make sure no one saw my electronic gadgets either. I wouldn't be able to talk my way out of _that_.

A few minutes later we were in the council room which served as an "everyday" throne room. Merlin said there was another throne room, but that one was used for special occasions like feasts and just last year, Arthur's wedding and the queen's coronation.

_So…I'm going to get to meet Queen Guinevere too._ I thought and immediately made a mental note to club Lancelot over the head with my frying pan the moment I saw him. Or maybe try to hook him up with the Lady of Shallot. If I was going to end up altering history just by being here, I was pretty sure no one would mind if I prevented all that Lancelot and Guinevere drama.

Queen Guinevere was waiting in the council room. She looked like she was in her early twenties, had long curly black hair, dark skinned like Sir Elyan-she even looked a bit like him too, and had a nice smile. She was also very pretty too, if Josh was here he'd be drooling and I would get to slap him.

"Arthur," She said standing up from her chair and came over to greet Arthur, they hugged and kissed.

I couldn't help it, I said "Awww…" Even though I'm not much of a romance fan and _Twilight_ actually made me puke (true story) I can't help like the fluffy romance, y'know like what you see in Disney movies.

It was then Queen Guinevere noticed the rest of us, "I'm forgetting my manners," she stepped forward and I suddenly remembering mine dropped into a very awkward bow.

"Don't girls curtsey where you come from?" Arthur chortled.

"No," I said curtly, "we bow too." I decided that it would be WAY TOO COMPLICATED to explain that there was no royalty where I came from. Unless they all started thinking I was from Rome or a Saxon _then_ I could say I was used to a society where leaders where elected by a vote not bloodlines. It would also be even harder to explain that royalty pretty much died out by my time due to inbreeding until the early twentieth century.

No, the fact I was from the future and a country that wasn't going to be "officially" discovered for about 500 years was going to have to wait. For now I needed a semi believable explanation and not lie. I just needed to stretch the truth.

"And pray tell what mysterious place is this?" Arthur said in mock wonderment.

I thought fast. Then spun around to face him with a slightly wild look on my face, "A place where there are faeries, leprechauns, elves, dwarves, and other mysterious peoples!" I said, "It's to the west!"

"The western isles?" Arthur said flatly, he gave me a hard look which I returned, "Yes…you do have that accent, Ireland right?"

Okay that was good, I could tell him I was from Ireland.

"Yes," I said a little too energetically, "I'm from a sleepy little town in the Irish countryside filled with sheep and cows. Our cheese is famous!" That wasn't entirely lying I did live in Ireland for a year during one of Dad's sabbaticals we actually had stayed in a house in Dublin-not the countryside-that part was the lie.

What? Did you expect me to tell him I was some ditzy princess? NO! Being a princess is too much work, too much politics to work with. Besides, I KNOW what could happen if I was caught lying about being a noblewoman, I'd be on the chopping block-literally. Better to be caught lying about being a country bumpkin.

Queen Guinevere giggled at my performance, "What's your name?" She asked me.

"Lina 'O' Keffe." I said, "Your highness." I added a little awkwardly. Disney movies never tell you how awkward it really is to meet royalty.

"How did you come to be in Camelot Lina?" The Queen asked me.

"It's…a long story." I said, "It involved several awkward adventures, a frying pan, me having to disguise myself as my twin brother Joshua, and a wild boar."

A very awkward silence followed. Maybe I shouldn't have included that _Twelfth Night_ reference. Shakespeare wasn't going to be born a few hundred years! What if I screwed up literary history? Or maybe I'd just be inspiration for him during a terrible bout of writer's block.

"Was that why you were cross-dressing?" Arthur asked, "You were in disguise?"

"_I was not cross-dressing_!" I snapped irritably, "I was in disguise!" from the corner of my eye I saw Merlin trying to hide a snigger. Arthur blew out air sounding like a horse.

"I-I'm sorry…" he said, "This…is just going to take some getting used to…I just never met a girl who grew up with brothers only."

After that I was allowed to stay at the castle as a guest until I could make accommodations for living in Camelot and find some work. I would be allowed to stay as long as I needed to.

"Wow…this place is HUGE!" I said as I was led to my guest room by Merlin and Queen Guinevere, I was acting the same way I had when we went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter except I wasn't acting like a four year old let loose in Disneyland, "How many rooms are there? A hundred? Two Hundred? No more than that…"

"More than two hundred and less than a thousand." Merlin said, "That's your only hint."

"Don't be so mean Merlin!" I whined catching up with him and catching hold of his arm, "Can't you tell little ol' me?"

"No you have to figure it out yourself." Melrin chuckled.

"Stop it you two!" Queen Guievere said between laughs, "I can't stop laughing; you really are acting like siblings."

We made our way through a maze of corridors passing some of the castle staff and more knights all of them made double takes at me when they saw what I was wearing.

"Here we are," Melrin said and opened a door.

My guestroom contained a large four poster bed, a table and some chairs, a large wardrobe and some cabinets. At the back was a large bay window with a good view of the forest and fields and mountains. It was like being in a grand hotel room-except there was no on suite bathroom with a Jacuzzi and no flat screen T.V complete with a PS3. More like a room in Herst Castle.

Still it looked really nice.

"We hope you will be comfortable here," Queen Guinevere said, "If you need anything just let Merlin know, he'll be looking after you."

"Well…" I said slowly, "there is one thing I need to check." Then dashed over to the bed and dived headlong onto it. It was like jumping onto a giant pillow filled with memory foam and feathers and mini pillows. Like a cloud. I had no idea that tenth century mattresses could be so squishy, maybe it was filled with heather, which according to C.S. Lewis is the best mattress stuffing in the world.

I twisted around to face Merlin and Queen Guinevere, "Everything's just fine!" I said.

* * *

**Well? What do you think? Let me know in a review.**

**As for Merlin, I haven't been able to catch any new episodes but FINAL SEASON OF MERLIN! I am SO SAD. but happy at hearing we will FINALLY FINALLY get a magic reveal! So, since this is an AU set in the same universe as Promises -think of this as a prequel somewhat I'm planning for Toothless to appear in either chapter four or five- this will be my own season five so to speak and yes I will be including the Saxons and Uther's ghost. Expect Mordred to appear in the next chapter.**

**Until next time my fellow Merlinians! Chapter Two: I Rollerblade through the Castle Halls.**

**Chocobo_Scribe signing off.**


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